Rail-joint.



G. A. FETHER.

HAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED IAII.25. IsIs Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

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GEORGE A. FETI-IER, OF EL DORADO, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-JOINT.

incense.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr.. 29, i919.

Application filed J'ahuary25, 1916. Serial No. 74,244.

To all wwm t may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. Fnrrrnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at El Dorado, in the county of Blair and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification.

rIhis invention relates to railways, but more particularly to rail joints and has for its primary obj ect improved means for making the joint such that the same can be more easily held in position on the ties to which the same is attached.

Another object of this device is to provide a rigid rail end support that is easily made and maintained, while at the same time possessing additional fastening means whereby the same is secured to the ties upon the road'bed.

A still further object of this device is to provide a joint such that the rails placed therein are held firmly against turning, which fault has been the cause of serious wrecks where the rails are not properly held to withstand the heavy stresses due to modern wheel loads.

l/Vith these and many other objects in view I which will `be more readily apparent, as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully pointed out, illustrated and claimed.

It will be readily understood that the invention is susceptible of some structural modification without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, but a preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of my improved rail joint showing the same associated with a rail and railway ties.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 shows an end of the improved rail joint with a railway tie; the same being shown in perspective.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several figures 0f the drawings.

In the manufacture and application of this improved rail joint, no change is contemplated in the rails or the ties to which the rails are secured, and to this end I provide a rail joint, designated in its entirety by the numeral 10, and preferably consisting of a plurality of parts 11 and 12, each of which is adapted to it snugly beneath the rail head 13, as well as to envelop the iiange or base la of the same. The ends 15 of the rail joint bars are preferably provided with an angled flange, designated by the numeral 16, one leg 17 of which is positioned in a plane parallel to the body 18 of the rail joint, while the other leg 19 is placed at right angles to the body of the rail joint, each leg being provided with a perforation 20 through which the rail fastening spike is driven for the purpose of securing the rail joint to the tie. That is to say, the members 17 and 19 constitute right angularly disposed spiking flange portions which coperate to effectively secure the joint to the tie by permitting both a vertical and horizontal spiking thereof.

It is quite obvious from this description and construction that it is practically impossible for the rail to slip from the rail joint and thus cause a failure, due to a bad rail joint.

The manner of fastening the rails to the rail joint has not been changed, and to this end the usual bolts 21 have been shown to pass through the web 22 of the rail as well as both members of the rail joint, thus in effect Sandwiching the rail firmly in the rail joint members.

The rail joint members are adapted to be machined upon two abutting surfaces 23 such that the rail joint perfectly fits the rail, thus preventing any lateral movement in the rail joint.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to be secured by Letters Patent is In a rail joint, the combination with the separate joint ties, of joint bars each having an upright web portion and a continuous rail supporting base formed with a tie engaging angle portion at each end, each of said latter portions including a spiking Harige projecting laterally from the side of the bar and adapted to seat on the upper face of the tie, and another spiking iunge disposed at right angles to the first mentioned flange and adapted to engage the outside faee oi' the tie, and the said tie engaging angle portions presenting included angles opening toward each other to provide for l0 GEORGE A. FETHER. Witnesses N. E. GEE, ALEX WEIR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, ID. G. 

